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February 8, 2012, Portland, OR – Occupy Portland protesters won a major legal victory Monday, with the help of pro bono attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild. Multnomah County Judge Cheryl Albrecht ordered the District Attorney’s office to respect the full constitutional rights of arrestees in the trial process.
Close to 200 arrests of protesters have been made in Portland since October 6, 2011, when thousands took to the streets in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, protesting corruption in financial institutions and demanding social and economic justice. The vast majority of defendants were charged with misdemeanors, such as disorderly
conduct or trespass, that the District Attorney’s office later dropped to violations. Violation trials typically have no jury, no public defender, and a weak burden of proof, saving time and money for the state while making it that much more difficult for defendants to win their case.
Volunteer attorneys from the Portland Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild filed a motion on behalf of 20 Occupy defendants, arguing that since the police treated arrestees like criminals, the defendants are entitled to the same protections under the Oregon and U.S. Constitutions as criminal defendants. “The State can’t have its cake and eat it too,” said Attorney Bear Wilner-Nugent who argued the motion.
Protesters didn’t just receive written citations, but instead were handcuffed, booked, detained, and usually fingerprinted. Deborah Norton, a defendant who testified at the hearing, describes her experience like this: “The night of my arrest was a defining moment for me as an American citizen. It was the moment I realized I had the
right to exercise my First Amendment rights in the face of mass intimidation tactics by the Portland Police. I’m an ordinary citizen, a 40-year-old mother of two. They treated us like criminals and degenerates. It’s time for the public to wake up to the brutal tactics being used by our police force and say enough.”
In her decision, Judge Albrecht agreed that most arrestees are entitled to full protections, including jury trials, court-appointed counsel, and a burden of proof “beyond a reasonable doubt”. The only exception was made in the case of Class C Misdemeanors (such as Trespass) which carry a lower maximum fine.
Keller Henry, the lead defendant who also testified at the hearing, said, “This decision is a personal and a movement victory. I felt the judge actually took the time to hear my story and see me as a real person. Personal stories are at the root of the Occupy movement-people connecting with each other to find ways to combat the greed and corruption that brought us out into the streets.”
“The irony is that we did nothing to deserve arrest and criminal treatment in the first place. We were peacefully protesting, defending our First Amendment rights,” said Jackie Miller, another defendant. “The arrests and brutality we’ve experienced are traditional authoritarian tactics calculated to intimidate, harass, and put a chill on
political dissent. That’s why it’s so important to fight these charges,” said Cameron Whitten, a co-defendant who is a candidate in the Portland mayoral race.
Miller added, “And in the process we’ve won a decision that could help protect everyone in the county from harassment by police and protect constitutional rights and due process for arrestees. That would probably never have happened if it weren’t for our amazing NLG attorneys joining forces with Occupy.”
Elk Law Krewe (ELK), http://elkpdx.org. For further information, contact: Keller Henry,
radiomaker.keller@gmail.com or 616-401-5563; Bear Wilner-Nugent (NLG), 503-351-2327; Stu Sugarman
(NLG), 503-944-9779.